Artists gone too soon and the 30 greatest punching bags in Pop music

On this day in 2005, two young musicians died well before their time. After reportedly battling a bipolar disorder and drug addiction, SoCal Punk drummer Derrick Plourde — who had played with bands like The Ataris, Lagwagon (the band that gave him his start), The Mad Caddies and others — killed himself with a gun. He was 33.Lagwagon's seventh studio album, Resolve, released later in 2005, was inspired by and dedicated to Plourde. The album became Lagwagon's first to break the Billboard 200, notching a peak position of 172. Here's the single (used on a Tony Hawk video game soundtrack … as Plourde would have wanted?), "Heartbreaking Music." Also today in 2005, Hideaki Sekiguchi of the Japanese Garage Punk trio Guitar Wolf (known simply as Billy or Bass Wolf) had a fatal heart attack in Tokyo, just after completing a successful tour of America. Sekiguchi was 38 and left behind a wife and two kids. Guitar Wolf — which has put out albums on indie labels like Matador and Narnack in the States — carried on with a new bassist and has released three albums since Sekiguchi's death. Here's Guitar Wolf's "UFO Romantics" from the band's album of the same name (Sekiguchi's last with the group):Born This Day: Musical movers and shakers sharing a March 30 birthday include legendary Blues singer/harmonica player Sonny Boy Williamson (1914); drummer/poet/songwriter with The Moody Blues, Graeme Edge (1941); drummer for The Surfaris and Love, Ken Forssi (1943); revered Rock/Blues guitarist Eric Clapton (1945); singer/songwriter ("Fast Car") Tracy Chapman (1964); schmaltzy Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion (1968); singer/songwriter Norah Jones (1979) and onetime Rap star MC Hammer (1962).While Hammer (born Stanley Burrell) did much to popularize Hip Hop, becoming one of its first superstars, he remains one of Pop music's greatest punching bags. Some might say it was his money issues; many had a hard time feeling sympathy as they saw or read about some of the gaudy "luxury items" Hammer had to give up. But, mostly, Hammer was a victim of his music (and videos) just not standing the test of time even slightly. Spin magazine recently ran its list of The 30 Biggest Punching Bags in History and somehow, despite his running partner Vanilla Ice coming in at No. 6, Hammer was nowhere to be found (nor was, miraculously, fellow birthday celebrator Celine Dion). Click here to read Spin's rundown, here to read it without having to click to the next page 400 times or just look below for the straight-up list. I say take Duran Duran or Lawrence Welk (?!) off and put Hammer in. Justice for Hammer!1 Milli Vanilli2 Limp Bizkit3 Kenny G4 Creed5 Insane Clown Posse6 Vanilla Ice7 Emerson, Lake & Palmer8 Matchbox 209 Pat Boone10 Yoko Ono11 Nickelback12 Michael Bolton13 Journey14 Billy Ray Cyrus15 Puff Daddy16 Winger17 Barry Manilow18 KC and the Sunshine Band19 Lawrence Welk20 The Osmonds21 Duran Duran22 Christopher Cross23 Smash Mouth24 Black Eyed Peas25 Lana Del Rey26 Candlebox27 John Mayer28 New Kids on the Block29 Phil Collins30 The MonkeesAnd here's the "full version" of one of Hammer's greatest hits (he had to drag down James Brown with him?). Happy 50th, Stanley! No gasface for you this year, you loveable ol' pants wrangler.

April 16 • The Mad Hatter

The Ataris' 2007 album 'Welcome the Night' was quite the departure, swapping straightforward Pop Punk for drifting, atmospheric Indie Rock, a decision not wholly received well by fans. "I always want to throw a curve ball," says vocalist/guitarist Kris Roe. "If I wrote 'So Long, Astoria Part 2,' I would have been telling the biggest lie," referencing the band's big-selling 2003 LP. So keep an eye out for more curve balls.